Godzilla (2014)

Film and Plot Synopsis

A secret government organization named Monarch discovers a pair of mysterious, ancient spores in a cave in the Philippines. Shortly afterwards, a Japanese nuclear power plant has a catastrophic meltdown that destroys the plant and kills dozens of people. Fifteen years later, one of the former plant employees discovers that the plant was destroyed by an ancient monster who now threatens all mankind. The human race’s only hope maybe to rely on another giant monster, Godzilla, the king of the monsters. A beast that humanity failed to kill nearly fifty years before.

‘Godzilla’ Movie Summary

In 1954, the large prehistoric creature Godzilla is lured to Bikini Atoll in an attempt to kill him with a nuclear bomb. In 1999, a cavern is discovered near a uranium mine in the Philippines that contains a large skeleton of a monster similar to Godzilla. The secret government agency Monarch dispatches scientists Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins) to investigate. The scientists discover two giant spores, one dormant and one hatched, along with a trial leading to the sea.

Meanwhile, in Japan, the Janjira Nuclear Power Plant experiences unusual seismic activity. Supervisor Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) sends his wife Sandra (Juliette Binoche) to lead a team of technicians into the reactor to investigate whether there is any reactor damage. A second tremor breaches the reactor while Sandra is inside. Joe is forced to close the reactor door before Sandra and her team can escape while the plant collapses.

Fifteen years later, Joe’s son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a United States Navy officer, returns from a tour of duty to his wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen) and son Sam (Carson Bolde) in San Francisco. However, he is contacted by the U.S. Embassy in Japan and informed that his father has been detained in Japan for trespassing at the Janjira quarantine zone. Ford is forced to fly over seas to get Joe. Once there, Joe convinces Ford to accompany him to retrieve vital data about the meltdown so that he can determine the cause of the accident. Once at the quarantine zone, they retrieve the data, but surprisingly find that the zone is uncontaminated with radiation. Both Joe and Ford are discovered and taken to a facility in the plant’s ruins. Once there, they find that the facility’s remains contain a massive chrysalis that has been feeding off the plant’s reactors for fifteen years. It is also emitting strong electro-magnetic pulses. While Joe and Ford are present, a giant winged insect-like creature emerges from the chrysalis and destroys the remains of the facility. Joe is killed during the incident. The military reports the incident as an earthquake to cover up the information about the monster.

Monarch sends Serizawa and Graham to join a United States Navy task force to search for the Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism (MUTO). The task force is led by Admiral William Stenz (David Strathairn). Ford is questioned as part of the task force investigation. Serizawa and Graham reveal to Ford that a 1954 deep sea expedition awakened Godzilla, and that the nuclear tests in the 1950’s were unsuccessful attempts to kill the prehistoric monster. Project Monarch was established to secretly study Godzilla and other similar monsters. Serizawa reveals that the MUTO caused the Janjira meltdown that killed Ford’s mother. Ford tells the scientists that his father monitored echolocation signals indicating the MUTO was communicating with something else, possibly Godzilla.

Meanwhile, the MUTO attacks a Russian submarine and drops it in the mountains of O’ahu, Hawaii to eat its nuclear material. At the same time, Ford is traveling back to San Francisco and has a lay over in O’ahu. Godzilla arrives on the island, and briefly battles the MUTO, destroying the airport and causing a tsunami in Honolulu. After the battle, Serizawa theorizes that the MUTO was not communicating with Godzilla, but in fact, something else. Serizawa’s theory prompts the military to investigate the other spore which was being stored in the Yucca Mountain nuclear water repository in Nevada. However, the spore has hatched, and a second winged MUTO emerges and attacks the city of Las Vegas. The scientists conclude the winged MUTO is the female, and she was attempting to communicate with the presumed male MUTO in Nevada. The message was a mating call.

Stenz approves a plan to use nuclear warheads to lure all three monsters out to the open ocean so that the military can destroy them. The scientists object to the plan. Ford finally makes it to the mainland and joins a military team delivering the warheads by train to the coast. However, the female MUTO intercepts the train in route and destroys the convoy, devouring most of the warheads. One warhead remains, and it is airlifted to San Francisco. Ford hitches a ride with the warhead. The monsters all converge on the city of San Francisco, which is evacuated. Elle stays in the city to help people but sends her son Sam away. Sam does not make it out of city before the monsters arrive and is taken to a shelter.

The warhead is activated when Godzilla appears at the Golden Gate Bridge. However, the male MUTO grabs the warhead and takes it to the female, who is busy creating a nest in the Chinatown area. Ford joins a military strike team that enters the city via an extremely dangerous HALO parachute jump to find and disarm the warhead while the monsters are battling. The team finds the warhead but cannot access the timer to deactivate it. They attempt to move the warhead to a boat so that they can get it out to sea. Ford destroys the MUTO nest as they leave it. Godzilla defeats the MUTOs, but immediately collapses from exhaustion. Ford gets the boat out to the open sea and is rescued before the warhead explodes. He reunites with his family at an emergency shelter the following morning. Godzilla reawakens and returns to the sea, generally seen as the savior of humanity. The media dubs Godzilla the “King of the Monsters”.

Additional Film Information

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